I Sam. 16:7 says: “But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” – The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001 (electronic ed.) . Good News Publishers: Wheaton.
Man looks at the outward appearance; however, the Lord looks at our hearts. God looks at our motives.
For some of you, you are thinking, “Yes, I am thankful that God looks at my heart” because you are a Christian!
However, for others of you, you are thinking, “Oh, no. I don’t like this teaching at all.” There’s nowhere to hide from the Lord.
One right action is PRAYER, but did you know that you could pray WRONGLY? Jesus said in Matt. 6:5-7: “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
Prayer is a right action but prayer to be seen and heard by others to demonstrate how “spiritual” you and I are is WRONG at a heart level.
Analyze your prayer life now: are you praying with the right heart toward Christ?
-Mark (trying to match my actions and my heart – I want BOTH to be right in God’s eyes!)